Actress Sigourney Weaver said Tuesday
that Russian President Vladimir Putin's anti-gay campaign was turning
him into “a real dictator.”

Weaver made her remarks during a New
York City panel to discuss the impact of the 2009 film Prayers for
Bobby, in which she plays Mary Griffith, a real-life mother whose
homophobia drove her son to suicide.

When asked to weigh in on the current
situation in Russia, where a law prohibiting “gay propaganda” has
provoked calls for a boycott of the Sochi Olympics, Weaver answered
that Putin was “becoming a real dictator.”

“I'm incredibly surprised by the way
that Putin is digging in and becoming a real dictator,” Weaver is
quoted as saying by gay glossy The
Advocate. “He was a sort of secret dictator and now, with
everything's he's done, it's radical, it's such a frightening time.
It's happening right in front of us. It's hard for me to believe that
there's nothing the world can't do to save those girls [Pussy Riot]
and young people. It's crazy for have someone say: 'You can't be you
in this country.' I think it's very hard to say to these young
people who've trained so hard that we should boycott the Olympics.
But I think it's an excellent opportunity to make it clear how the
world thinks about this. I think the Olympics may be a great way for
some, without trying to be shocking, but trying to be exuberant and
show the world what it means to be gay: How can you resist that?”